Birmingham City were 4-0 losers away at Blackburn Rovers - leaving manager Lee Bowyer fuming at the performance from his players. 

Lee Bowyer's side didn't have much to shout about in this game as Blackburn were the better team throughout.

Goals from John Buckley, Reda Khadra, and two from Ben Brereton-Diaz gave Rovers the win, with the only positive moment for the Blues coming from Chuks Aneke who hit the bar from 25 yards out when City were 1-0 down.

Birmingham actually had more of the ball than the hosts at Ewood Park, but they couldn't convert that into many meaningful chances and they tamely folded in the second half, making it three matches without a win in the league.

 

 

 

 

This led to criticism from Bowyer, who told the Birmingham Mail that his side's performance was 'unacceptable'.

“We helped them along the way, some of the goals we conceded were not good enough, unacceptable. We were second best all over," Bowyer said.

“They have got quality all over the park, even with the people they were bringing on were really good, we were out of our depth today."

Whilst Bowyer was fuming at his players output, he did single out young Jordan James for praise.

“I thought the only positive from today was little JJ," the Blues boss continued.

"I thought he was the one player who could walk out of that dressing room with his head held high.

“I think he tried to do the right things. He is learning, he tracked a runner in the first half and got back into a defensive position and stopped a goal, in possession he didn’t really give it away against a good side."

Birmingham slipped to 17th after the defeat, but are still eight points above the bottom three.

The Verdict

It was a poor game for Lee Bowyer and his side.

They came up against the form team in the division and were easily swept away.

It will be a cause for concern for Bowyer who, largely had his best side available with exception to one or two players.

The performance levels have dipped considerably in this middle part of the season and it will need to addressed sooner rather than later to avoid being pulled into a relegation battle later in the season.